Haggai 1:10 (WEB)

Passage

Therefore for your sake the heavens withhold the dew, and the earth withholds its fruit.

Nearby Context

Haggai 1:8 Go up to the mountain, bring wood, and build the house. I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified,” says Yahweh.

Haggai 1:9 “You looked for much, and, behold, it came to little; and when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why?” says Yahweh of Armies, “Because of my house that lies waste, while each of you is busy with his own house.

Haggai 1:10 Therefore for your sake the heavens withhold the dew, and the earth withholds its fruit.

Haggai 1:11 I called for a drought on the land, on the mountains, on the grain, on the new wine, on the oil, on that which the ground produces, on men, on livestock, and on all the labor of the hands.”

Haggai 1:12 Then Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed Yahweh, their God’s voice, and the words of Haggai, the prophet, as Yahweh, their God, had sent him; and the people feared Yahweh.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "therefore", "sake", "heavens", "withhold", "earth", "withholds", and "fruit". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "therefore" and "sake", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 9's "You looked for much and behold it..." into verse 11's "I called for a drought on the...", so "therefore" and "sake" belong inside that flow. In Haggai context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "therefore" and "sake" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.